Tatsuya Imai's latest implosion further lessens Astros' expectations for starter

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He did not ask for this attention, but his paycheck and his birthplace prompted it. No starting pitcher on the Astros’ roster is making more money than Imai, who is supposed to announce this franchise’s arrival in the Pacific Rim, while slotting somewhere in the middle of its starting rotation. Whether Imai is equipped to bear it is becoming evident each time he grabs a baseball. His brutal introduction to major-league life continued Tuesday during a divisional matchup in which this team needed to show up. When Imai did not, it deflated everyone: the patchwork lineup that battled Seattle Mariners starter Bryan Woo for two runs across his first three innings, the half-empty ballpark that tried to create some semblance of an atmosphere and an entire organization that must wonder where it will go from here after a 10-2 loss. “It’s not what I imagined for the results,” Imai said through interpreter Shio Enomoto. “But we’re in season. It’s my responsibility to get the results and get the outs and try my best with what I can do.” Imai has made six professional starts (four in the majors and two in the minors). He has imploded in four of them. The latest on Tuesday evening — a four-inning mess in which he surrendered six runs and reverted to a two-pitch pitcher — inflated Imai’s ERA to 9.24 after 12 2/3 major-league innings. He has retired just 38 of the 65 hitters he’s faced. Of the 27 he hasn’t, 17 have either drawn a walk or been hit by a pitch. After the game, manager Joe Espada said Imai will make his next start, even if nothing he has done during the season’s first two months merits it. Houston has few other options to replace Imai in the rotation, and he is owed $18 million. For a club 11 games under .500 and trying to save its season — along with a manager and general manager fighting for their jobs — it is an almost impossible position. “We just have to get him right,” a perturbed Espada said. “That needs to be better.” Activating Imai on Tuesday from the 15-day injured list did not arrive as a result of any improvements he made or meaningful changes he enacted. He did nothing team officials hoped he would during his two minor-league rehab appearances, both of which he made with a clean bill of health but still on the injured list with “right arm fatigue.” Major-league results are all that matter, but that Imai threw 47.5 percent of his pitches for strikes and found little success against both a Double-A and Triple-A lineup must prompt massive concern. After throwing three innings for Triple-A Sugar Land last week, Imai indicated a difference in major-league scouting reports contributed to his problems. In Japan, Imai said, the pregame focus is on a pitcher’s strengths. MLB teams are more focused on an opponent’s weakness. As a result, pitching coach Josh Miller and catcher Christian Vázquez all but eliminated a pregame scouting report Tuesday. “Red (zones), blue (zones), heat maps … nah, just go after them,” Espada said pregame. Given full autonomy to pitch as he saw fit, Imai relied on what inspired this team to pay him. Each of Imai’s 80 pitches were either a four-seam fastball or slider. “That’s what I did in Japan and that’s why the Astros signed me,” Imai said. “So that’s why I want to work on my fastball and slider, and, if that didn’t work, try my other pitches. But for now, I want to work on my fastball and slider.” Seattle swung 38 times against the reduced arsenal and whiffed nine times. Of the 13 balls put in play against Imai, 10 were struck 95 mph or harder. Seattle averaged a 96.6 mph exit velocity, making it a minor miracle they mustered just five hits in Imai’s four innings. After the game, Espada acknowledged there were “windows that (Imai) could have used his split-finger or changeup,” especially against Seattle’s slew of left-handed hitters. Imai hasn’t commanded his arsenal against anyone, but his inability to neutralize lefties has been of particular concern to team officials. The Mariners’ lineup featured six of them, along with switch-hitting catcher Cal Raleigh. They teamed to reach base eight times. Three of them worked walks and two others were hit by a pitch. “We wanted to pound the zone with the two pitches he can command and control,” Espada said. Such a statement sounds reserved for a rookie navigating his first taste of major-league life, not someone with a large salary and expectations to stabilize Houston’s injury-ravaged rotation. But Imai is both, a fact the Astros must face head-on. Any lofty preseason thoughts that accompanied Imai’s arrival now seem outsized. His prominence on ballpark murals and advertisements feels misplaced — and only furthers the pressure applied. To hear team officials describe it, the Astros have exhausted every avenue to make Imai feel comfortable and aid his transition to the major leagues, which Enomoto already acknowledged has been a struggle. “We’re trying to create an environment where he feels comfortable and he can be himself, and we’re trying to do those things for him just to be him,” Espada said pregame. “Just go out there, relax and have fun. That’s been our message.” Whether Imai is receiving it is a matter of debate. Four months of the regular season still remain. There is enough time for Imai to correct the course and become a bona fide big leaguer, but it is clear the learning curve is far greater than anyone within Houston’s organization anticipated. Imai’s progress must be measured in incremental gains, not in impressive outings. For example, Espada and Imai sounded encouraged that he threw 57.5 percent of his pitches Tuesday for strikes. Anything is an improvement from the 54.2 percent rate he showed in his first three starts. Twelve of Seattle’s 13 balls in play came against pitches inside the strike zone. “They won the division last year, and they have a lot of hitters that can hit a lot of hard hits,” Imai said. “I think it’s just to the point that their ability was higher.” Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms